May 22, 2012
Why Mysticism Matters
Have you ever had a mystical experience? Wikipedia defines “mysticism” as “the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, or levels of being, or aspects of reality, beyond normal human perception, including experience of and even communion with a supreme being.”
I had my first mystical experience when I was a 16-year-old secular atheist. I was sitting up late one night having a conversation about nothing in particular with my mother when suddenly, a most unexpected event occurred: the “doors of perception” swung wide open and I found myself in a dramatically altered state of consciousness. Even though I could see the four walls of the room in which I was sitting, inwardly, my conscious experience was one of no boundaries whatsoever. I felt like I was swirling in an infinite ocean of my own and everyone else’s Being, the nature of which seemed to have no beginning and no end. The presence of ecstasy was overwhelming and even unbearable at times. In the profundity of this beginninglessness and endlessness, it became apparent that death was an illusion and that everything that exists and does not exist—the seen and the unseen, the known and the unknown—is all inseparable from this one inconceivable mystery. The majesty and glory of those few moments are impossible to describe in words—it was like the whole universe suddenly became conscious of itself in me.
The transformative power of mystical experiences is that they can convey to us, in a way that our rational faculties can never grasp, that no matter what happens to our bodies and personalities in the world of time and space, mysteriously, at some other level, in another dimension of our own being, beyond the mind, everything is always okay.
The lightness of being that flows from the heart and mind of the mystic is very different than the sometimes disconcerting absolute self-confidence of the religious believer. The believer is convinced beyond any doubt of the incontrovertible nature of the apparently unique truth espoused by his or her particular mythic tradition—whether it be Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, or Buddhist. Of course, in all of these traditions, there are many extraordinary men and women who are transformed in the most important ways by the liberating power of their faith alone. But the mystic has seen beyond the truth of any particular tradition because she has directly experienced at least what seems like a depth-dimension of reality that transcends all personal, religious, political, and cultural differences—whether she is a Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, or Buddhist. This is because she has access to a truly transcendent knowing of the substratum of reality that remains unseen and unfelt by most. Mystical certainty spontaneously arises from the lightness of being that is the emotional resonance of the deepest dimension of the self.
The path of mysticism is one of transcendence, of going beyond: beyond the mind, beyond time, beyond the whole world. When the mind is transcended, awareness of the passing of time fades away. And when time disappears, awareness of the world also disappears. All the greatest mystics from the world’s religious traditions have made the same unexpected and liberating discovery: when awareness of the world and everything in it, including ones own bodily shape and form, disappears, the most intimately felt sense of “I” still remains. Except now, “I” is all there is—beginningless, endless. When the historical Buddha awakened to this depth dimension, he called it “the Unborn,” “the Deathless,” or “the Uncreated.”
Before time and space, before the universe was born, you didn’t have any problems and the world was not in crisis. That is the reason why lightness of being is the emotional resonance not only of the deepest dimension of the self, but also of the deepest dimension of reality itself. If we can find access to that Unborn, Uncreated, timeless domain of our own being, then we can know here and now, just like the greatest mystics throughout the ages, that everything is always okay . . .
Why is that so important? Because in a world that’s more interconnected than it ever has been, when we’re only hearing the bad news more times a day than we may be able to bear, knowing that, deeply, everything’s always okay is more important than ever. It doesn’t mean we are living in denial of the very real and complex problems we are facing. But the ever-new and always-liberating truth of mystical insight spiritually empowers us so that we won’t become discouraged, even on really bad days. And most importantly, in a truly challenged world that needs our whole-hearted participation more than ever, being awake to our own infinite depths empowers us to fight the good fight with all the courage in the world.
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This article was originally posted on Andrew Cohen’s BigThink.com blog, “The Evolution of Enlightenment.”
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Andrew Cohen is a spiritual teacher, cultural visionary, founder of EnlightenNext, and the author of 
Thank you to remind that mystical insight can give spiritual self-confidence to fight bad discouragement we can experience in the presence of tremendous insecurity…
Let us face the challenges of Life…with courage !
It is a radically RATIONAL perspective to accept that the “mind” is a partial, and therefore, inadequate vehicle for the totality of development available as potential, especially since the entire spectrum of consciousness is always evolving as forms of manifestation.
But the very first time one has a direct, actual mystical experience of the Timeless, Formless, Unmanifest, Uncreate, that experience should positively confirm this rational perspective which then will also confirm one’s own partiality in light of this vision. This new altered or awakened vision then has the potential of becoming the launchpad for development beyond the rational mind and the psycho-emotional-mental stage in general, IF one has cultivated the necessary humility and fortitude to sacrifice their identity with this stage.
Through humble contemplation and meditation, one can harvest and deepen the undeniable fact that they have witnessed the inconceivable, and this will be the “anchor,” as Andrew says, that keeps one stable through the worst of storms.
Don’t fear or desire your own partiality or the mystical vision that confirms that all is already good and right, for they are already Not-two, waiting only for your deeper recognition.
Peace
I’ve never had a mystical experience that I know of, and have always wanted to have one. Is the wanting it preventing me from having it? Is it necessary to have a mystical experience to be “awakened”? It’s hard to not think I’m doing something wrong or that I just don’t “get it”.
Knowing beyond mind offers a certainty that life is safe and trustworthy and opens to a degree of love powerful enough to meet pain and fear with an open heart, the only way that we can truly create something new and able to go forward to the kinds of solutions we’d like to see but can’t actually do without a different way of seeing, more practical than it seems.
Dear Andrew
I had a similar experience to yours, at 14. I agree, it provides lightness and certainty. My question has always been “so what” when very few can know this, and very few are interested. How can we pass on this wonderful connectedness? It’s at the crux of the hopelessness that I see so much in my work.
So I applaud you on your book and public efforts. Your voice has been like a clear bell amidst so many, and I have encountered thousands in my work.
Thank you!
So what. People have been having mystical expereinces since the begining of time. I have had so many – I cannot even count them. Explain to me – how do they help the world?
I have had many experiences such as this since I was quite young, but words never seem to express them adequately. Your words, Andrew, speak to me. I know the feeling of that moment of ecstacy/bliss, so intense that it’s almost overwhelming, and I think, “I need to share this with others.” A couple of years ago I had an experience where I had a breathtaking realization that I WAS the Universe. It was tangible on a felt level, not intellectual. And yet it made me feel lonely, how can I explain this to anyone without them questioning my sanity. Good to know that there are others that may understand. And you’re right, it does give a sense of “all is well”, I have thought of it in terms of being held in Buddha’s palm, where no harm exists.
@ Eve and Dawn,
You might also be interested in looking into the work of Dr. David Hawkins. He suggests that those vibrating in this world at the level of Love or above, including Joy, Peace and Enlightenment, exponentially effect the consciousness of the whole. It is something like the effect of one being resonating at Love counteracts 750,000 people vibrating below the crucial level of Courage.
This assumes that the Unity and Love and Lightness, to which Andrew alluded, were part of your experience.
If you experience a mystical happening then you can simply “be” that “spiritual empowerment” and Knowing Beyond Reason and effect all that matters.
We need you.
I have had several mystical experiences, and it would be too long to describe them all..but, now, at age 75, I have become afraid of them, and afraid to meditate just in case I am thrown abruptly into another dimension no matter how extraordinary this may be The last experience that occured a couple of weeks ago was overwhelming. I was concentrating on chopping vegetables when, suddenly, I felt an extreme energy enveloping me (as if a huge gust of wind came at you) and I was back in Paris when I was 18 and in love. Deja vu is something totally different. I was THERE with all the smells, emotions..everything I had felt for this young man (we did get engaged) and I could smell him as if he was with me in the kitchen. I was frightened..really frightened. I must add that I had contacted a medium through Van Praagh who gave me a reading by phone and had told me that there was a young man beside me who wanted to say hello. He correctly named him Danny. Of course, I did not know he was dead. We lost contact a very long time ago.
Was it him visiting me? Was it me remembering him in a way that was incomprehensible.
I feel very much alone because I have no one to discuss these things with. Members of my family don’t believe in experiences beyond what they perceive here. I have seen auras, gorgeousbrilliant colors and that sweet smell that comes wtih some of these experiences. I don’t mind seeing ghosts…but this last experience was almost too much..
Thank you for reading, and I hope someone can share with me how to live with this and CONTROL the fear.
I did not know
Claire, this is my first visit to this blog and I am not sure I am best placed to answer you, however, I wanted to respond to your heartfelt plea.
All I can say is that, from my experience, ageing opens us up if we let it. I cannot say which action you should take (or not take) in the light of such experiences as you describe. I am present from a different perspective and would not presume to understand a life lived for 75 years.
I would just remind you that understanding is less important than being with the nowness of your life. All comes from good and returns to good if we allow for that.
You are having new experiences. You are being stretched beyond your certainties. You are growing, still. How marvellous is that? That we continue to break free from the limitations of small mind and small life even as our loves die, leave or fail to understand – this is the gift of your life, the one you need not fear.
You are okay Claire, you suffice.
May you find the peace you seek.
Just a note to thank you for your reply to my fear problem. I will definitely follow your guidelines and get back to meditating.
Actually, I have had these experiences throughout my life, but it is only lately that I have become afraid. Perhaps it has to do with my husband taking me to the hospital when, one evening, I started seeing the auras of people around me. I was put in the psychological ward, but I did get to see a really wonderful psychiatrist. This was years ago, but it left a mark.
Thank you again for your kind words.
Your experience is so wonderful and true…This is what happen when our soul or being is temporarily free from the clutches of the mind-body complex enabling us to see beyond the mind accumstomed to the world of matter …If one can stay longer in this state then phenomena of the other dimensins start taking shapes and we are dazzled to see the spectacular existence out-there…May be when we leave our bodies at the time of so-called “death” then we enter such dimensions depending upon our state of spiritual advancement..Anyway, such experiences cannot be described and they certainly reveal to human beings that worldly existence is just a rudimentary one, though a real one…Ahead of us is beautiful and wonderful states of infinite dimensions…..I too have esperienced such states in my youth.
It’s very important for anyone who not only feels, but KNOWS, that they’ve had a mystical experience, whether it’s PSYCHIC, SUBTLE or CAUSAL/NONDUAL, to take up a practice of meditation and fearless contemplation, so that any and all phenomena are WITNESSED with detached awareness. PHENOMENA will come and go; our job concerning any of it is to gain SELF-KNOWLEDGE.
In fact, cultivating Witnessing awareness is key to moving through the STAGES of development since it is the Witness which is the integral aspect of EMBRACE AND TRANSCENDENCE of all the stages, helping to stabilize the entire self-system as it undergoes transmutation into a SPIRITUALIZED FORM, which is no small matter, not something we should be willing to say “so what” to. It is every human’s calling, drive and imperative to consciously be involved with Spirit’s ongoing conscious recognition of Itself in and as manifestation. Just because you do not agree does not mean it is not so.
As Eros and Agape, Wisdom and Compassion, work within to bring the entire Being to Unity Awareness, the Witness is your agreement, it is your “YES” to Life. If you’re not interested in your higher potentials, ask yourself “Why?”, because, as it has been illuminated by mystics of all flavor, it is your own *HABITUAL CONTRACTION* away from what you actually are, your Primordial Nature, that allows anyone to say “so what.”
We might say it is the arrogance of ego-identification that, even if one is indeed having mystical experience, thwarts deeper recognition of “not my will, but Thy Will be done.” Say to yourself, “I don’t know, and that’s okay” and “Who AM I?”; cultivating humility is essential to fearless surrender. Good Journey to All…
Love and Light,
L. Nada
I’ve long been fascinated by the mysteries which suffuse every moment, and especially by what I choose to call the “ultimate mystery” of why anything exists at all. I believe all mysteries have significance because they put into perspective all the assumptions, conventions, perceptions with which I am normally preoccupied. Although I have strong convictions, my awareness of mysteries prevents me from thinking I have all the answers. A mystical outlook can also help soften or melt down the dogmatic viewpoints which fuel conflicts internationally, nationally, and in our interpersonal relationships.
What.did.your.mother.did.or.said.when.you.had.your.mystical.expierience?
Why mysticism matters… because it is all around us… right here on this planet we call earth… accessible with our five senses… if we are paying close enough attention… human consciousness… http://www.wakeuppeople.org/AUGUST.html
Andrew thank you so much for sharing about mystical experiences. Elevated states of consciousness actually do have light, sights, sounds, music, art, beauty, voice, feeling, truth, insights and awaken other senses that we maybe didn’t realize that we had. I think it is good to cherish these experiences because they do reaffirm to us the indestructible and eternal nature of our spiritual existence. It is very comforting to realize that human existence is not dependent merely upon the physical body. Elevated states of consciousness are sometimes even validated with what can only be honestly described as verifiable supernatural miracles that manifest into the physical realm. I hope it is ok to attribute this to an actual Creator God. I don’t know how else to describe it. In my experience higher consciousness appears to come from God of whom we are all a part and by whom we are all apparetly connected with each other. It might not be acceptable to say this on your blog, but many of my overtly powerful supernatural experiences have explicitly been identified with the personage of Jesus. Prophetic and miraculous events let us know for certain that higher consciousness is not just talk, books or seminars, but it is the very origin of all reality. Mystical experiences have their highest value when they inspire us to express love to the world. Everyday physical life, suffering, work and relationships are the places where our spirituality is forged into our souls and expressed in the world in a helpful way. The spiritual experiences give us guidance, inspiration and strength because as everybody knows this world can be a very ruff ride sometimes.